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Chad Fisher selected as NPS Chief of Wildland Fire

Bill GabbertMarch 12, 2021UncategorizedChad Fisher, National Park Service5 Comments

Chad Fisher, who has served as the National Park Service’s (NPS) wildland fire operations program leader since 2017, has been selected as the agency’s chief for the Branch of Wildland Fire. In this position he will lead the team responsible for operations, planning, budget, and science and ecology for the wildland fire management program.

Fisher began his career at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in 1990 after graduating from Haywood Community College with an associate degree in Fish and Wildlife Management. He spent the early ‘90s working at the refuge during the spring and fall fire seasons and the summer season on the Payette National Forest in Idaho. Chad was a member of the Asheville Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC) in 1993 and the NPS’s Alpine IHC in 1994. He returned to school at University of Montana (UM) in 1995 ultimately earning a Bachelor of Science in Resource Conservation. He worked as a smokejumper in McCall, Idaho and a helitack crew leader for the interagency Lolo National Forest/Salish Kootenai Tribe while attending UM.

Chad worked on the Great Smoky Mountains prescribed fire crew (Wildland Fire Module) before receiving his first career seasonal appointment on the Lewis and Clark National Forest. He returned to Great Smoky Mountains National Park as the assistant module leader and module leader before moving to Boise as a training specialist for the NPS. In the mid 2000’s Chad was the national fire training specialist for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service then returned to the NPS as the wildland fire safety program manager. He received the 2013 Paul Gleason Lead by Example Award for his work with the Dutch Creek mitigations. In 2017 Chad officially became the program lead for NPS Wildland Fire Operations.

Chad is a member of the National Park Service Safety Leadership Council (SLC) and the National Multiagency Coordinating Group (NMAC). His wife Sarah works for the United States Forest Service and they are the proud parents of two sons. He credits his parents and strong mentors from his days at Pocosin Lakes and Alpine IHC with helping him establish a strong foundation early in his life and career. Chad enjoys spending time with his family, running, mountain biking, and sitting by the backyard firepit.

Chad will begin his new position on March 28, 2021.

Firefighter/Paramedic suffers medical emergency at wildland fire; pronounced deceased at hospital

Bill GabbertMarch 11, 2021March 11, 2021Uncategorizedlodd, Nebraska1 Comment

Dennis M. Bender had been with Ponca Hills VFD in Nebraska for 50 years

Firefighter/Paramedic Dennis M. Bender died March 10 as the result of a medical emergency while working in support of crews at a fire north of Omaha, Nebraska, said Ponca Hills Volunteer Fire Chief Joe Sacks. He was immediately taken to a hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

It was the department’s third wildland fire of the day.

Mr. Bender, Nebraska’s longest serving paramedic, lived in the Ponca Hills and was affiliated with the volunteer fire department for 50 years. He was among the first group of Certified Paramedics in the state.

He and his wife of 52 years, Patty, both died on March 10, one year apart. Patty died in 2020.

Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Bender’s family, his fellow firefighters and paramedics, and his friends.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Bill.

Almost 500 federal firefighters, other employees, and contractors are assisting with COVID vaccinations

Bill GabbertMarch 10, 2021March 10, 2021Uncategorizedcoronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic

Working in 15 states

Vaccinations at the Oakland Coliseum — About 50 US Forest Service specially-trained professionals are processing and vaccinating personnel at the Oakland Coliseum Mass COVID Vaccination Site using 6 different lanes of one-of-three drive-through giant canopies. Close to 6,000 people per day receive the vaccine. USFS photo.

At least 491 federal firefighters, other federal employees, and contractors are assisting with COVID vaccinations around the United States after being mobilized through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Support Function #4.

The U.S. Forest Service is the lead agency responsible for coordinating ESF #4, which is primarily fire suppression.

As of March 9 the FS, working with their partner land management agencies, has organized the mobilization of personnel and equipment to assist in the administration of the vaccinations in approximately 60 sites in 15 states — New York, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington, Rhode Island, Illinois, Michigan, Idaho, and New Jersey. Other sites in more states are in the planning stages.

491 personnel are assigned through ESF #4:

U.S. Forest Service, 210
Bureau of Land Management, 16
National Park Service, 26
Fish and Wildlife Service, 2
Bureau of Indian Affairs, 3
State or local government, 94
Contract personnel, 140

Three incident management teams have been activated — a Type 1, Type 2, and a Type 3 team, according to information sent out from the FS.

vaccinations Oakland Coliseum — More than 8,100 vaccinations were administered at Oakland Coliseum March 6, 2021. CAL OES photo.

In addition, 24 radio kits more commonly seen on wildland fires are being used in New Jersey and New York.

ESF4_SitReport_03092021 by wildfiretoday on Scribd

Levy Sensenig, Smokejumper from @NIFC_Fire, was deployed as an EMT to @NashvilleMCC to assist with #COVID19 vaccinations. He completed training with this fellow EMT in anticipation of opening to the public soon. Levy is working with @fema/ @femaregion4. #FirefightingResources pic.twitter.com/tEvZsKyOLV

— Bureau of Land Management Fire and Aviation (@BLMFire) March 9, 2021

Federal & state personnel, including 50+ @forestservice employees from the 18 national forests in California, hit the 100,000 milestone for COVID vaccines given at the @Oakland Coliseum site. Check out the operation here: https://t.co/AhQKZ0WvmR & https://t.co/d4cnwd4iEI pic.twitter.com/v6v4YjQctA

— Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region (@usfs_r5) March 5, 2021

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jim.

Forest Service has 18 large air tankers this year under contract

Bill GabbertMarch 9, 2021March 10, 2021Uncategorizedair tanker, contract, UTF31 Comments

The schedule calls for most of them to begin in April and May

The U.S. Forest Service has 18 large air tankers on exclusive use (EU) contracts this year.

In 2020 the agency started out with 13 on contract in April and May but by June 24 had added 11 on modified call when needed (CWN) contracts for a total of 24. Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems C-130 aircraft from the National Guard and Air Force Reserve were deployed from July 23 until October 4 in 2020, usually two at a time.

This year the 18 EU large air tankers are being supplied by five vendors:

Six, Aero Flite (RJ85)
Four, Erickson Aero Tanker (MD87)
Four, Neptune Aviation (BAe-146)
Two, Coulson Aviation (C-130)
Two, 10 Tanker (DC-10)

The dates they will first be on duty could change if the Forest Service decides they need to come on early, but the scheduled 160-day “mandatory availability periods” (MAP) which are different for every air tanker specify that two will begin in March (11^th and 17^th) and most of the rest will start in April and May. The MAPs end August 18 through November 20 for the 18 aircraft, but those dates could be extended if necessary.

DC-10 air tanker Central Fire — Air Tanker 914, a DC-10, drops retardant on the Central Fire in Arizona, June 20, 2020. Photo by JDH Images.

The 2020 fire season started with much less activity than average (see the chart below) but when hundreds of fires began burning millions of acres in the West in mid-August, the number of large air tankers on contract was less than was actually needed. September 19 saw 32,727 fire personnel deployed, the highest number since August 24, 2015 when 32,300 were assigned. Many fires during that six-week period had numerous requests for ground and aviation firefighting resources that were unable to be filled when the fires were discovered. This allowed some of the blazes to grow virtually unchecked for days — or longer. In 2020, 34.3 percent of the requests for large air tankers were either cancelled or unable to be filled.

Since 2001 the four years with the highest number of total fire detections in Washington, Oregon, and California have all occurred since 2015, according to satellite data processed by the New York Times in September of last year.

Fire detections West Coast Oregon Washington California New York Times — Published September 24, 2020 by the New York Times.

Number of USFS Large Air Tankers on Exclusive Use contracts. — Size of USFS Large Air Tanker Fleet

Specially treated wire mesh could protect power poles from wildfire

Bill GabbertMarch 4, 2021March 5, 2021Uncategorizedpower line4 Comments

Originally published at 5:49 p.m. MDT March 4, 2021

Wire mesh treated with an intumescent graphite coating may be able to prevent a wooden power pole from being consumed in a wildfire. It could also be effective on a railroad bridge or under the eaves of a house.

When subjected to heat, an intumescent rapidly expands and can fill in the gaps in the wire mesh to form a barrier between the fire and the wood. Before the fire, the mesh allows air flow, preventing a buildup of moisture that could lead to wood damage.

I first learned about the product when seeing a report that NVEnergy installed it last month on 170 power poles as a pilot program in Nevada, looking at it as a way to protect equipment in the event of a wildland fire. The company installed it at either a 6 or 20-foot height, depending on the surrounding vegetation.

In September, 2019 we wrote about a fire resistant paint that was applied by the Idaho National Laboratory on 3,000 power poles. They prioritized poles receiving the paint based on service area, fire risk, and vegetation density. Every pole painted in the latex-based fire retardant paint survived the 2019 Sheep Fire. Even poles that had not been repainted since their initial coat in 2012 and 2013 survived.

Updated at 11:47 a.m. MDT March 5, 2021

A big thank you to Robert Tissell who pointed out in a comment on this article that the TV show “This Old House” showed vents being installed in a home in Paradise, California that use the same process. Vulcan Vents says they are “manufactured out of high grade aluminum honeycomb and coated with an intumescent coating made by Firefree Coatings. The intumescent coating is designed to quickly swell up and close off when exposed to high heat. The expanded material also acts as an insulator to heat, fire and embers.”

Wildland firefighter organization seeks better pay and benefits

Bill GabbertMarch 2, 2021March 17, 2021UncategorizedGrassroots Wildland Firefighters, pay23 Comments

Grassroots Wildland Firefighters hopes to influence federal legislation

Britania Mountain Fire Wyoming — Firefighters conduct a firing operation to remove the fuel along Palmer Canyon Road on the Britania Mountain Fire in Wyoming. Uploaded to InciWeb September 2, 2018.

Wildland firefighters have formed a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization to advocate for better pay, benefits, a National Fire Service, and their own job series within the federal government.

The IRS rules for a 501(c)(4) allow a “social welfare” non-profit group to spend their donated funds to lobby government in order to affect legislation, but they are not allowed to participate in political campaigns on behalf of a candidate for public office.

The name of the all-volunteer group is Grassroots Wildland Firefighters (GRWFF). It was formed in 2019 by active and retired federal wildland firefighters (Forestry Technicians) and continued to grow after a series of articles were published beginning in August, 2020 that called attention to their plight on Wildfire Today, Vice News, and NBC.

Below are excerpts from a news release by the GRWFF.

Kelly Martin, the group’s President and former Fire and Aviation Chief for Yosemite National Park, describes the major issue at hand: “We are at a turning point in the climate change battle, and the demands on federal wildland firefighters at the frontline have become a year-round request. Firefighters are resigning their federal positions for jobs in state, municipal and private industry that provide pay and benefits commensurate with the risks”.

In many places where the government asks firefighters to serve, both in cities and remote duty stations, pay falls woefully short of basic housing and cost of living requirements.

Government studies from the National Library of Medicine reveal that federal firefighters face a multitude of health risks, with an up to 30% increased risk of cardiovascular disease and a risk of lung cancer exceeding that of the general population by as much as 43%. The ever-increasing duration and intensity of fire seasons have also led to devastating mental health statistics, which show a 30 times higher suicide rate among firefighters in comparison to the general public.

GRWFF spokesperson Riva Duncan sums it up, “In short, the pay and benefits are not commensurate with the risk, and the risk has increased fire season after fire season. The 2021 fire season is here, and nothing has changed. Grassroots Wildland Firefighters aims to do what the boots on the ground have always done in the absence of a solution, we offer one. With the input of firefighters across the country, we’ve developed a legislative proposal that aims to stem the tide of federal firefighters leaving our ranks and to create pay and benefits parity with state, municipal and private firefighting organizations. We’re working with members of congress who prioritize environmental and first responder issues to fine-tune the language, and we hope to have a sponsor and introduction soon.”

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